From the South Pole, Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Duránassured that Antarctica is the heart of the planet, remembering that it is the source of more than 80% of the planet’s fresh water and that all ocean currents come from there. “There is no Amazon if there is no Antarctica”, affirmed the minister of foreign affairs when highlighting the decisive role played by the ‘white continent’, in mitigating the devastating effects caused by global warming.
Leyva assured that, in line with the purpose of President Gustavo Petro to promote a pact to save the Amazon, It is necessary to draw up a State policy that promotes research and care for Antarctica, understanding that it is a vital source of the planet. “It’s your air conditioning,” he explained.
“If we are defending the planet, we need an Antarctic policy, with those resources that we have half-forgotten and lagging behind, with the universities. The future of the planet is here”, and assured that he will ask President Petro to allow him to spend a few days in Antarctica to convene the ministries of finance, education, environment and science, and explore the feasibility of allocating more resources to the Antarctic research.
The Minister of Foreign Relations assured that “we have to turn our universities over here, as other countries are doing. Now, we are going to summon those Latin American countries that have not arrived here so that they do research with us and we precipitate all our human wealth towards Antarctica”.
strategic contacts
During his visit to Antarctica, Foreign Minister Leyva Durán learned first-hand about the work carried out by the Chilean Air Force, as well as the Chilean Antarctic Institute, in terms of research and preservation.
He also met with the governor of Magallanes, Jorge Flies, to strengthen ties with this area of Chilean Patagonia, which calls on the region and the world to talk about science around Antarctica.
Foreign Minister Leyva Durán also spoke with researchers from the IX Scientific Expedition and V Colombian Air Campaign to Antarctica, who work to generate knowledge for the preservation of the Antarctic environment. After this meeting, he highlighted the work that both the Colombian Air Force and the National Navy have been doing for decades in research.
“We are going to continue defending the planet’s subsistence, we are going to continue calling, because the President has said so, international conferences, particularly Latin American ones, to call attention to what those scholars who are doing research here today do,” the foreign minister concluded.